Glenda Jackson

Glenda May Jackson (9 May 1936 – 15 June 2023) was an English actress and politician. She won two Academy Awards for Best Actress, for the romance films *Women in Love* (1969) and *A Touch of Class* (1973), though she did not attend either ceremony because of other work. She also earned three Emmy Awards, a Tony Award, two BAFTA Awards, and a Golden Globe, placing her among the small group of performers who have achieved the "Triple Crown of Acting." A Labour Party member, she served as a Member of Parliament for 23 years: first for Hampstead and Highgate from 1992 to 2010, then for Hampstead and Kilburn from 2010 to 2015 after boundary changes.

Jackson was born at 151 Market Street in Birkenhead, Cheshire, on 9 May 1936. Her mother, a fan of Hollywood star Glenda Farrell, named her after the actress. Soon after, the family moved to Hoylake on the Wirral. They were poor, living in a two-up, two-down house with an outside toilet at 21 Lake Place. Her father Harry was a bricklayer who served on minesweepers and was largely absent for six years during World War II; her mother Joan (née Pearce) worked in a local shop, pulled pints in a pub, and cleaned houses. Jackson was the eldest of four daughters. She attended Holy Trinity Church of England and Cathcart Street primary schools, then West Kirby County Grammar School for Girls. Poor exam results led her to leave school at 16, and she worked at Boots Pharmacy for two years.

As a teenager, she performed with the Townswomen's Guild drama group. Her first acting role was in J. B. Priestley's *Mystery of Greenfingers* in 1952, with the YMCA Players in Hoylake. In 1954, she auditioned for the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (RADA) in London and received a discretionary grant from the Cheshire education committee to help pay for her training. She moved to London in January 1955 to begin her studies.

Her professional stage debut came in January 1957, in Ted Willis's *Doctor in the House* at the Connaught Theatre in Worthing. She followed this with Terence Rattigan's *Separate Tables* while still at RADA, and began working in repertory theatre, also serving as a stage manager in Crewe. From 1958 to 1961, she spent two and a half years unable to find acting work. She unsuccessfully auditioned for the Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) and took a series of jobs she later called "soul-destroying," including waitressing at Th